The proposal was adopted as an amendment to the criminal justice reform bill passed Tuesday night. House Minority Leader Bradley Jones Jr. proposed the amendment, which calls for the creation of a rape kit tracking system with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.

The system would allow victims of sexual assault to anonymously track their kits and help authorities determine the current location and status of all untested kits.

The amendment would require rape kits to be kept for 50 years. A new law signed in October 2016 by Gov. Charlie Baker extended the preservation of rape kits to 15 years, a major increase from the previous limit of six months.

Jones' office said the amendment mandates an audit of all existing untested kits with a reported crime in order to measure the extent of the current backlog. Jones says the current number of untested rape kits is unknown.

He pointed to a 2015 EOPPS report where only 75 of 351 municipal police departments responded to the his office's request for the number of untested kits in the departments' possession.

"We don't even know how many of these rape kits have gone untested, and that is unacceptable, given how crucial the evidence collected from these kits can be in helping to convict dangerous criminals and connect individuals to unsolved crimes," Jones said.

"Each untested kit represents a missed opportunity to provide a sense of healing to a survivor and increased safety to a community, but today's vote is an important step in helping survivors of sexual assault to achieve justice."

The amendment is modeled after national policy guidelines supported by the Joyful Heart Foundation. There are 32 states with rape kit reform laws already in place.

The state Senate recently approved its own criminal justice reform bill, which does not address the untested rape kit backlog. A conference committee will be appointed so the House and Senate can work out the differences in the two versions of the bill.